


My dude my man, my buddy my pal

by alavillamaillahallanvaara



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Fluff, Idiots in Love, M/M, Mutual Pining, Skiing, dan's helping, kevin's trying okay, this is self indulgence okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-03
Updated: 2020-04-03
Packaged: 2021-02-26 16:40:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23467102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alavillamaillahallanvaara/pseuds/alavillamaillahallanvaara
Summary: Dan teaches Kevin to ski. Really, there's nothing more to it.
Relationships: Daniel Condren/Kevin O'Reilly
Comments: 7
Kudos: 71





	My dude my man, my buddy my pal

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for afraidbob for spellchecking this.
> 
> Do not show this to Dan or Kevin or anyone affiliated with them or I'll eat your teeth. Seriously, don't.

“Nope, not gonna happen, no way. I’ll just walk back down. If I try this I’ll fecking  _ die _ ”, Kevin practically whimpers, his voice cracking on the word “die”. He grimaces and clears his throat, though that doesn’t help with the tight ball of fear and anxiety in the pit of his stomach.

It's a very beautiful day, early March. The light blue sky stretches on forever, with barely any clouds to disturb it, and the sun seems brighter than ever. The jagged edges of the Alps are outlined against the sky, various different shades of greys and whites. Sunlight bounces off of the pure, clean snow before him, and it's blinding.

Despite the sun shining down on him mercilessly, it's surprisingly cold outside, especially considering Kevin's an Irish guy that never experiences properly chilly weather like this, and so he's starting to feel more underdressed by the second. He shudders because of the cold. Well, mostly because of the cold.

Daniel chuckles a bit behind him, removing his skis from one another and tossing them on the ground. He pins them down with his boot before they can start to slide away and down the ski slope.

"Now come on, it's really not that bad. Or are you a coward, O'Reilly?" Kevin doesn't respond to the obvious challenge, choosing to stare at the people whizzing past them instead, making clouds of powdery snow fly up in the air as they make turns. The snow sparkles like glitter as the sun hits it on its way down.

"Oh, you're actually serious." Daniel shuffles next to him, striking his foot down on the ski and locking his boot in place, a look of concern on his face. He secures his other ski quickly and then grabs Kevin's hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"Kevin, it's  _ okay _ . You're not gonna die, I'll make sure of that. I'll teach you and in no time you're gonna be the king of these slopes, alright? I get that it's a bit scary, but you can do it. Now how about we start with putting your skis on?" Daniel's tone is soft and patient, and Kevin feels like a child. On one hand, he hates being babied over, but on the other, it's  _ Dan _ . Kevin really doesn't mind if it's Daniel babying him and he has to admit, the soft voice he uses has Kevin weak.

"Yeah, yeah, okay, I can do that", Kevin mumbles as he puts his own skis down and tries his best to figure out how in the fresh hell they work.

At first, this had seemed like a good idea. Skiing was something he'd always wanted to try, and Daniel knew what he was doing and had promised to help. Kevin had reasoned with himself that he could push his fears aside. Plus, the promise of spending time with Dan had him stumbling over himself agreeing when Daniel had asked. Unfortunately for him, he's now standing on a slope, feeling like chickening out. This is… not good.

In the end he doesn't even get his skis secured on his own, and that makes him even more embarrassed than he was before. Daniel has to bend down and help him with getting the little clip on the skis lifted when Kevin's confused, instructing him where to hit the ski so that the clip snaps into place. Kevin's a quick learner at least, and with Dan's help he's soon got his skis on. Now all he has to do is just.. get down the slope.  _ Oh boy. _

Kevin tries it by himself first. He starts sliding down kind of awkwardly, hands on both sides of his body trying to balance himself out. He keeps his legs angled so that he's in a braking stance, trying to slow himself as he keeps going straight down. This naturally doesn't work, and despite the braking his speed starts to pick up.

He hasn't gotten far when the constant braking backfires on him in the form of his left ski sliding over the right one, and that sends him tripping and falling on his face, rolling over a few times before stopping. So now he's laying on the ground, snow on his face and under his coat, and there's a dull ache in his right ankle. Well, at least it doesn't feel that bad. He thinks he's gonna be okay, but that doesn't lessen the frustration bubbling up in his chest, burning and scratching and climbing up his throat. He pushes himself up with a growl.

It only takes Daniel a few seconds to reach Kevin. He's coming down the slope with a fair bit of speed, confident and graceful in his movements. When he gets to Kevin he pulls himself upright and makes a sharp left turn, placing his feet so that he's sideways on the slope. His momentum reduces dramatically, and he stops dead in his tracks right next to Kevin. As he does so, he makes a bunch of snow fly up into the air, glimmering like thousands of tiny crystals as they begin their descent around Daniel, some of the snow getting stuck on his clothes. Between Dan's slightly tousled hair and  _ those eyes _ Kevin's brain is fixed on a single thought.  _ Daniel's fucking gorgeous. _

It's not the first time Kevin has that exact thought, and he doubts it will be the last, but right now it feels different. He's expecting Dan to laugh at him, not to look at him with a worried expression as he holds out his hand to Kevin. There's an ache in his heart as he grabs the outstretched hand and pulls himself to his feet. On days like this he feels especially lucky to even be friends with Daniel, though that just makes him feel even more selfish every time he catches himself hoping for something more. Curse him for falling for his best friend, he supposes.

"Jesus, Kev, you okay? That did not look like it was fun." Daniel's looking him over with a rather scrutinizing gaze as he reaches out and smooths Kevin's coat, brushing some of the snow off with quick motions. Kevin's cheeks prickle, and he's not exactly sure if it's because of the cold wind or getting flustered. Hell, it's probably both.

"I'm fine. It didn't really hurt or anything. Just-" Kevin sighs and runs a gloved hand across his face. "fecking skis." Daniel gives him a lighthearted chuckle.

"Hey, it's alright, really. Skiing is a lot of fun but it can also be very difficult to get the hang of, especially if you're trying to do it on your own. How about we try this again, huh? I'll do my best to help." Dan flashes a beaming smile that makes Kevin's heart flutter, and- okay yeah, things will be easier if Dan's helping him out.

"So what's my first lesson, Mr. Condren?" he asks, trying to get rid of some of the tension in him. Joking seems to do the job usually, but this is not a usual situation.

It's not that Kevin doesn't trust Daniel, he really does, but skiing still scares him and he's not particularly fond of the idea he'll have to rely on someone, even if that person's Dan. It makes him feel awfully vulnerable and easy to screw over, and even if he would trust Daniel with his life the thought still feels sort of uncomfortable.

Kevin's pulled out of his thoughts by Dan's laughter. It's light and carefree, delighted and sincere, and it makes everything seem a bit brighter. God, he loves hearing that laugh, even more in person.

"I'll charge you later for the private lesson, then." There's a mirth and playfulness to Dan's eyes that makes Kevin want to do the stupidest things, and if that means he's getting down this slope with Daniel by his side, then so be it.

"Now, the first thing you wanna do is obviously stop braking all the time. In fact, you can drop braking altogether. If you really want to get somewhere and control yourself while you're skiing, turns are your best bet." Kevin straightens himself up and sets his skis next to each other, psyching himself up to try.

"The only thing you really need to know about turns is that they're controlled purely by how you distribute your weight on your feet. If you have your weight equally on both feet, you're going straight down. Place more weight on your right foot, for example, and you'll start turning right. The more weight, the sharper the turn will be. Got it?"

"Yeah, I think so. That doesn’t sound too bad, honestly."

"That's good to hear. You want to stop, just turn your skis sideways to the slope and then you won't start sliding down. You ready?"

Kevin is, or at the very least thinks he is. He has no idea why Daniel's being as patient with him as he is, but then again Dan's just a good friend like that. Still, whatever the reason may be for Dan enduring Kevin's dumbassery, he's grateful for the help. Daniel's being very encouraging and that gives Kevin the willpower to try and do this properly.

Turns out understanding something in theory does not mean you can actually do it. Kevin gets as far as sliding to the left side of the slope, and then freezes there because the turn comes up and the prospect of turning suddenly becomes much scarier than it was before. The main reason being that Kevin has to turn himself so that he's going straight down the slope in order to do the turn to the right, and the thought of picking up speed and losing control of his skis is kind of terrifying, if he's being honest.

It's not that he doesn't try. He does, multiple times, but turning his skis so they're pointed down is very uncomfortable for him. Each time he tries he chickens out as soon as he's moving even slightly and just gets back into the position he's now deemed safe. This doesn't really help though, since it means he's just nearer the edge of the slope every time he does it, worsening his predicament.

He stands there awkwardly shuffling around for a good few minutes, trying his best and still failing. People are skiing past him like it's the easiest thing in the world, even little kids, and that only serves to make him angrier at himself. He can feel Daniel watching him and he curses his own inability to do anything to the moon and back.

"Okay, it looks like you're having some trouble." Dan offers after a while of Kevin struggling on the slope. The statement seems obvious enough, and Kevin bares his teeth in a grimace.

"Yeah no shit I'm having some trouble, _I can't get these things to fucking_ _work_." He regrets snapping at Dan immediately after the words have left his mouth. Daniel doesn't look hurt at all, just understanding and compassionate, and that just makes Kevin feel even worse.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to. I'm just really-"

"Frustrated? Kevin, I get that. It's never easy for anyone to try and learn something new. Just because I'm decent now doesn't mean I didn't struggle before." Daniel giggles a bit as he skis over to Kevin. "You should've seen what a disaster I was when I started out. Believe me, you're doing just fine compared to when I started out. Now how about we try something a bit different?"

Kevin's confused when Daniel gets closer and takes both of his hands. Dan gives them another squeeze as he looks up at Kevin, and Kevin feels his heart skip a beat. God he hopes he's not completely red in the face by now. He banks it all on being able to explain it away as the cold affecting him and not Dan.

"Alright, what we're gonna do now is the following: I'm gonna swing you like a pendulum. It's gonna look stupid, trust me I know, but it'll help you with getting through the first few turns and you'll get an understanding for how the turns are  _ supposed _ to feel. That should, hopefully, help with doing them on your own later."

And so Kevin does exactly that. He keeps himself at arms length from Daniel and he swings the first turn, gripping Daniel's hands like a lifeline. It's part him controlling his own movements, part Dan keeping everything in check. Dan's a grounding force and Kevin finds relief in the fact that he won't just slide down the entire slope when he turns his skis. Daniel's here to make sure that doesn't happen. When he's done with the turn Dan lets go of his hands and Kevin slides right until he's at the point again where he needs to make a turn, and Dan's by his side in an instant.

They go down the entire slope like this. With every turn Kevin feels like he gets more control over his feet, every turn brings him confidence and speed as he gets used to what successful skiing feels like. He's going from one turn to the other, each one more stable than the last, and soon the idea of turning his skis downwards doesn't scare him anymore. In fact, he starts going downwards for slightly longer periods of time before he makes a turn, still holding Dan's hands, just to see what it's like.

This is nice, Kevin decides, when they're almost at the bottom. The boots on his feet are heavy and pretty tight, but it feels surprisingly comfortable. His skis move forward with ease and an amount of lightness to them that Kevin's never experienced before. His legs don't feel like they're gonna fail him anytime soon, despite the countless turns. And best of all, Daniel's hands feel like they fit in Kevin's perfectly.

At the last few turns Daniel lets go of Kevin's hands. Kevin feels a bit sad that the comforting presence of holding Dan's hands is gone, but he understands that he should try to do the last bit of the slope on his own. The idea of skiing without Dan being there still makes him nervous, but thankfully not as nervous as before.

"Just relax, Kev, it'll be fine. You've been doing great so far, you're gonna do great on your own as well." Daniel's voice has lowered almost to a purr and hell, Kevin would be ready to shoot himself without hesitation if Dan asked him with that voice. Then again, he'd do anything for Dan. "I've got you, you don't need to worry. I'll be right behind you."

And with that, Kevin's off on his own. He's still scared, but less so now of falling and hurting himself than he is of disappointing Daniel. He messes up on the first turn, but thankfully not that badly. The rest of his turns go smoothly though, and he starts deliberately picking up speed. This time he feels like he's in control, and that makes him feel good. He reaches the bottom of the slope without falling over again. The thrill he gets when he realises he's at the bottom, unscathed, and Daniel's right behind him like he said he would be, beaming at him with pride, is unparalleled.

Kevin's not expecting the bone-crushing hug he gets from Daniel as soon as he's properly down the slope and back on flat ground, but he welcomes it fully, scooping Dan up and lifting him off the ground. He doesn't quite do a spin, remembering he's on skis, so he settles for swinging Dan from side to side. He presses his face to the top of Dan's head and damn, Daniel's hair is soft. Makes him want to run his fingers through it. It smells nice too, a familiar scent that calms him down.

"So, was it that bad after all?" Dan asks, his voice teasing. Kevin grins as he sets Daniel back down.

"With you by my side? Not at all."

"You wanna go again? We have the entire day to ourselves."

"I'd honestly love to. Maybe this time I won't be such a mess." Kevin does the laugh he always goes for after a self deprecating joke, but Dan shuts him down pretty quickly.

"Nonsense. Kev, you were wonderful. You did great and I'm really proud of you." That gets Kevin to shut up. He tries to come up with something witty to say, but he can't, his mind completely short circuiting. He's left there opening his mouth and then closing it again, probably looking like a fish out of water. Daniel looks pleased with himself, but doesn't say anything.

When they start heading to the lifts to get back up the slope, however, Kevin comes to the conclusion that moving on flat ground is even harder than on the slope. He finds himself half walking, half skiing forward at an agonisingly slow pace while flailing his arms around looking like a lunatic. This time Daniel does laugh at him, but he comes back for Kevin anyway, sticking his hand out. Kevin grabs it without a second thought, the action somehow very natural to him, and he lets himself get pulled towards the lifts. A few people give them odd looks, but honestly? Kevin couldn't care less.

In a moment they're sitting in the lift, on their way back up to the top. The slope is big, and that means getting to the top takes a pretty long time. About ten minutes, actually. Kevin knows this because he was nervously checking his phone every five seconds the first trip up. This time, however, there's nothing Kevin worries about, and so he can just relax and focus on chatting with Daniel.

The view from the lift is incredible, and despite the lift shaking from side to side as it ascends, Kevin's surprised at how calm he is. He'd been panicking the first time, but now, with one such trip behind him and Daniel by his side? It feels good. Dan mentions that he's been to a place before that didn't have heaters in the lift seats, and Kevin realises suddenly how fortunate he is to have ones in this lift, and then after that the conversation somehow goes to games and Ireland and the abundance of snow here. Kevin feels very comfortable and content here, and he feels reluctant to ever leave Daniel’s aura of familiarity.

They spend the entire day going down the slopes, and then spending time in the lifts again, then down again, and the repetitivity of it soothes Kevin. He grows more confident in his abilities every time they ski down, and although each time is similar to ones before, they're also different. It switches things up a little, and time seems to fly as they're having fun. Skiing is quite exhilarating, and that makes the time spent in the lift just chatting about whatever comes to mind all the more enjoyable, a welcome break from the physical exercise.

It's long after sundown, when the slopes are already dark, it's getting colder, and most people have left, that they decide to start heading back to the lodge they have rented out. Kevin's surprised at how light his feet feel like after he's taken the boots off, and as he tries to walk he miscalculates how much strength he needs, stumbling forward and nearly falling on his face. Daniel just stifles a laugh, trying to hide his grin. Kevin throws back a quick "Shut it." and then returns the boots to the employee renting them out, face heated.

They catch a bus heading out to where their lodge is, settling down on seats. The bus is mostly empty, save for two middle aged women sitting at the front, and Kevin takes the time to savour the quiet, leaning his head on Daniel's shoulder. Dan doesn't complain, so Kevin takes that as a sign it's okay. He watches him as he scrolls lazily through Reddit, and enjoys the silence.

The bus ride is not that long, ending quicker than Kevin had anticipated it to, and they climb out of the vehicle at their stop. At this point Kevin's feet are starting to feel like jelly, protesting with every single step he takes. He stumbles inside the lodge, arm slung over Daniel's shoulders, and they both proceed to take off their shoes and shrug off their coats.

They make their way over to the couch in the living room, and just collapse onto it. Daniel grabs a blanket that's been lying over the back and tosses it over the both of them. Kevin snuggles closer to Daniel, and Dan wraps his arms around him, one of them finding their way to Kevin's hair, ruffling it lightly. Kevin's not sure how they've ended up cuddling on the couch, but he's not going to complain. They're both sleepy and utterly exhausted from the day's activities, so Kevin figures this is just because of that. He's currently blissed out though, and just about ready to fall asleep right here, so he'll take it.

The silence between them is comfortable, and stretches on for a while before Dan breaks it with a light chuckle that Kevin can feel vibrate through him. It's pleasant.

"So, how was it? I know it was a bit scary at first, but you got the hang of it quickly. And hey, you certainly looked like you were having fun."

"Yeah, it really was. Thanks for teaching me. I'd be lost without you, you know that?" Kevin cranes his neck so that he's looking up at Daniel, fully knowing how soft his tone is, but he's sleepy and he's done a lot today, so he deserves this, dammit. Deserves to express his feelings a bit.

"I do know that. You're a mess and a bit of a dumbass. But hey, that's part of your charm I guess… and one of the many reasons why I fell in love with you."

Kevin hums in unfocused agreement, not fully realising what Daniel has said. It takes a moment for his brain to actually process the words that hang in the air, and then they hit him. A rush of excitement hits him, enough to snap him out of his tired state. He pushes himself up from leaning against Daniel's chest, turning to look at him. He probably looks bewildered as all hell, judging by Dan's amused expression.

"Wait, really? You love me? Since when?"

"Since like, at least a year back. Did you really not realise? It's not like I've been very secretive about it." Dan looks at Kevin with a fond expression, smiling at him in that sweet manner that makes Kevin practically swoon.

"Huh. Guess I really am a dumbass then."

"Maybe so, but you're  _ my  _ dumbass. Now get back down, I wanna cuddle."

And Kevin does, turning around and leaning his weight back onto Daniel, a pleasant warmth in his stomach and a buzzing sensation in his brain. One of Dan's hands finds its way back into his hair, and soon after he feels Dan lean down to kiss the top of his head. It doesn't take long for Kevin to fall asleep after that, feeling more content than ever.

It's only in the morning, when Kevin wakes up with Dan's arms still wrapped around him that he realises he never told Dan he loves him too. Looking at Dan's relaxed expression and the soft smile on his face, however, tells Kevin that Daniel already knows that.


End file.
